Hellobee Boards

@gotkimchi: yup. I have $10 digital scale on my counter at home and even got one for my desk at work because I will overeat my desk snacks if I don’t! I bought a set of 6 tablespoons because it’s the measure I use the most and use them everywhere for everything as well.

It sounds tedious but it’s really just habit now and it makes meal prep really simple - I can just measure and bang out a meat and veg in my containers and have my lunches with macros all plotted out in advance.

@Mrs D: I totes understand. I started the month awesome at a new low weight, but then I got sick with the flavor of the month virus from the kids and everyone in the fam has been in a death spiral for almost 2 weeks. I have been sticking to my eating and workout plan, but whatever this is has caused me to go up 2.5lbs and I'm bloated and its so annoying. I know it will even out once the illness is over, but its aggravating because my period is due in like 10 days (during which I never count on for weight loss) and its a short month anyway, so its like ARGH.

Oh well. Life ain't always going to go plan, what can you do but carry on?

So...just had my macros calculated. She is upping my calorie intake goal from 1300 to 1660 calories per day. Not sure how I am going to add 360 extra calories...AND she is setting my goal at 140g protein...

So I'm looking for any and all protein boosting feedback!? I am thinking I'll switch my morning cup of coffee to a coffee protein shake...and I could maybe put protein powder in my oatmeal some mornings...

Any other ideas greatly appreciated!

@Mrs D: Yeah IIFYM eating plans tend to be super high protein and low fat, so its definitely a switch up.

Roast turkey deli meat, meal prepping a lot of boneless skinless chicken breast (or buy the pre-cooked rotisserie chicken breast meat in the vacuum chubs at Costco), and having protein bars as a "dessert" are some ways to get lean protein in. Swapping out ground turkey for your ground beef recipes or using lean beef cut with beans. Nonfat greek yogurt, reduced fat string cheese, and lean meat sticks (Chomps from Trader Joe's are all natural and good).

I often get some espresso over ice and then dump in a carton of protein shake for breakfast. Premier Protein, Advantedge Carb Control, and the high protein Slim Fast shakes are all very few carbs and high in protein. I like the Kirkland brand protein bars and Powerbar Clean Whey bars because they use natural sweeteners and are fairly low carb at 4-5 net carbs a piece.

Anyone want to calm my nerves on the calories? For reference, I weight 170 currently, and had been eating 1300 calories. She is upping me to 1660 calories...just seems like a lot for me...

@Mrs D: I also like using Isopure unflavored whey - its zero carb and I add it to lots of things in that way.

If you're into collagen protein powder, that is tasteless and mixes into hot or cold liquids. The collagen is definitely something you can dump into soups or sauces and you wouldn't really be able to tell anything is in there. Plus its good for your hair and skin. Great Lakes makes one that's pretty decently priced.

No offense, but it sounded like you were eating way too few calories before, especially if you're doing BodyBoss workouts. Those workouts easily burn a few hundred calories and that means you'd be eating below 1000 calories in a day. That would put you in starvation mode and your body would do everything it could to resist losing weight. IIFYM tends to try and amp up people's metabolism and build muscle so that you burn more calories naturally and that's typically done by increasing people's calories/protein levels so they can switch up their metabolism. I do not follow IIFYM, but I know many people that do and they all have a hard time at first with the whole "reverse dieting" idea, but most of them seem to have pretty good success with it, so I guess it must work!

Worst case scenario, you try it for a month and if its not working, go back to the coach and troubleshoot.

@Mrs D: 1300 also sounds really low to me. I was unintentionally losing weight at 135lbs and 1800 calories/day (aiming for maintenance now!). Upping calories should increase your energy and boost your metabolism. I also get better results (and more muscle definition) from workouts when I'm eating more.

@Mrs D: Eating more will allow you to get through much harder and much more effective workouts. The increased protein will definitely fuel your body to be more active and the more active you can be, the higher your metabolism will remain throughout the day. So as long as you take those extra calories and put them to good use, you should see better results. I know you've been frustrated by being stalled lately, so you might as well try this and see if it's more effective than what you've been doing. And a balanced diet with significant protein is going to be much more healthy for your body and much more sustainable in the long run than super high fats or super low carbs, etc. I'm on slightly lower calories than you (which makes sense because I was about 155 when I had my macros calculated) and this is what a typical day of food looks like:

Premier Protein Shake right after my workout (160 calories and 30g of protein)
Breakfast at work is usually a Grab The Gold Bar or Egg White bites from Starbucks (170-190 calories and 11-13g of protein)
Lunch is a spinach salad with grilled chicken and strawberries. I use plain balsamic vinegar as my dressing. Most salad dressings are crazy high in calories and fat.
Another premier protein shake when I get home with the kids. Or a more fun snack if my dinner has enough protein that I don't need more for the day.
Dinner is usually HelloFresh. I always always log my dinner in MFP first, and then work the rest of my day around it since dinner is the hardest meal to be flexible on.

ETA: I also try to focus on drinking lots of water and I have 2 cups of hot green tea each day which helps combat water retention.

@lawbee11: thanks! thats supper helpful to hear!

@Truth Bombs: Thank you for the example! I am a creature of habit so I have created 3 days to rotate through next week. Similar to you I will likely have 2 protein shakes a day or 1 shake and the powder of a second mixed in with something.

I'm of course going to give it the 3 weeks the trainer suggested. With the warmer weather here I am hoping I can also add an extra run or two to my week to help.

I'm excited for the new challenge...and hopeful for the results.

I'm down 18lbs since the beginning of January, and I'm just taking it slow and easy. I'd like to get down another 7-8, but I'm not pressuring myself on a timeline.

@Mrs D: I'm really just tracking one meal a day and then making common sense choices for my other meals and snacks. More veggies, fewer baked goods/treats, fewer liquid calories. Nothing crazy

Good job on your loss and kudos on managing to get that much protein!!

@Mrs D: Good. Perhaps we should start a new thread? Something for spring or getting ready for summer or something?

I hit my 40lb loss milestone at the beginning of the month and am currently 43lbs down since October, so I'm pretty pumped about that. I've been keto now for 6 months and its going great. Big news is that DH says he will be joining me in eating low carb soon, so we're trying to sorta eat or throw out whatever random carbs we have in the house that the kids can't or wont eat.

My kids are definitely not keto or low carb, but its been great overall for my family because they see me eating steak or eggs all the time and these kids who have literally refused to eat any kind of meat that wasn't minced or processed or sausage, suddenly LOVE steak and hard boiled eggs. And DS1 has taken to liking salami and other charcuterie, pickles, olives, even my meat sticks (I like the grassfed Chomps meat sticks at Trader Joe's). DS1 also likes plain steamed broccoli and asparagus now after he watched me eat it every night for months.

Overall, my weight loss pace has slowed down the last 2 months. October through January, I was losing about 8 pounds a month, but in February and March I've been at about 3.4-3.8 pounds lost. I'm totally fine with that pace.

I track everything I eat in My Fitness Pal and do treadmill workouts 3 times a week for about 30-40 minutes. I've started to do some light kettlebell workouts for beginners for my arms that I hope to do about 2 nights a week until I get stronger.

I have about 18-19 pounds to lose before I am out of the "overweight" BMI category, so I'm hoping to get there before my 1 year keto anniversary in October. Once I'm there, I'll be just 15 pounds to my goal weight!